Sarah Palin is receiving legal help from the state of Alaska

State to provide legal help for Palin's lawsuit defense
DEFENSE: Assistant attorney general will be paid for, but not personal lawyer of ex-governor.

By BECKY BOHRER
The Associated Press

Sarah Palin is receiving legal help from the state in a civil lawsuit.

Assistant Attorney General Dale House said Palin asked the state to help defend her against the lawsuit by activist Chip Thoma.

The claims made against Palin date to when she was governor, and House said Wednesday that it's typical for the state to get involved if the person is being sued largely because of the title they held or because of something they did in the course of their official duties. He said there are exceptions, including for criminal cases.

House said the state will pay for his participation but not for Palin's personal lawyer, John Tiemessen, who will be co-counsel.

Thoma is suing Palin for at least $100,000, claiming that she undertook a campaign to "punish, embarrass, discredit and silence" him while governor after he complained about tour bus traffic on the windy, narrow streets around the governor's mansion.

Traffic increased after Palin returned to Juneau after her failed 2008 GOP vice presidential campaign. According to Thoma's lawsuit, which was amended in May, he complained about the traffic to a state agency and made signs and fliers about the traffic situation that he posted and handed out.

The lawsuit alleges Palin and unidentified conspirators retaliated, in some cases "twisting" his words and in others, "concocting complete fabrications" to silence him and others whom Palin perceived as speaking out against her.

The initial lawsuit was based in part on a leaked draft manuscript of an aide of Palin's at that time, Frank Bailey. Bailey's book, which has since been published, claims Palin aides "went into discrediting Chip overdrive," after Palin expressed frustration with complaints that she took as an attack on her family being in Juneau. Palin had taken heat during her tenure for not staying in Juneau, the state capital, full-time.

Tiemessen has called the lawsuit frivolous and said it was filed "merely for the purpose of harassment." House said he is not aware of any evidence of defamation by Palin or others at her request.

The case is pending in federal court. No trial date has been set.



Read more: http://www.adn.com/2011/08/10/2008767/palin-seeks-state-help-in-defense.html#ixzz1VhIokSG2

Where's Sarah?

As we were saying...




(3/16/09) Just one day after posting a blog about the governor's lack of leadership on critical issues, the Fairbanks Daily News Miner published a story today about the progress on one of the governor's priority bills for this year.

According to Rena Delbridge writing in the Fairbanks paper, Golden Valley Electric Association CEO Brian Newton attended meetings last week with the Palin administration in Juneau regarding the governor's proposed legislation to combine railbelt utilities.

The legislation would create a framework for the Railbelt’s six electric utilities to form a corporation to own and manage transmission and generation.

GVEA officials have voiced concerns about the proposal and according to some lawmakers, have said privately that there would be no way they'd ever go along with the proposal.

Newton did said the meetings in the capital, held during the Alaska Power Association meetings, were useful. GVEA and the administration will work together to iron out differences, he said.

The most telling line of the story was the last line of the story:

"The governor didn’t meet with GVEA personally, nor did she speak to the Alaska Power Association gathering.

The railbelt consolidation bill is supposedly a priority piece of legislation for the governor and energy is the most critical issue of the legislative session, but yet she didn't meet with or speak to Alaska energy executives when they were in Juneau?

As we said; lights are on but nobody is home.

Andrew Halcro's blog

Sarah Palin to be withdrawn as Republican VP nominee

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The Case For or Against Sarah Palin

Some women have serious policy disagreements with Sarah Palin or think she might be unqualified to be a heart beat from the presidency. Sarah at best should resign for if only the appearence she might care to raise her 4months and 7 and 14 year old children. However, she will not resign or blink for her family, let alone the fact she has abuse of power and ethics charges against her.

Woman of America; Liberal or Conservative thinkers you are smarter than the woman who wants to be the Vice President of the United States of America That's my point
On the vice presidency:


"But as for that v.p. talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it, exactly, that the v.p. does every day?"

--July 31, 2008, CNBC's "Kudlow & Company"


On Iraq:

"I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice, and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place."

--March 21, 2007, Alaska Business Monthly


"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [American soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

--June 8, 2008, Wasilla Assembly of God Church


On creationism:

"Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject--creationism and evolution. It's been a healthy foundation for me. But don't be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides."

--October 25, 2006, gubernatorial debate


On global warming:

"A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one, though, who would attribute it to being man-made."

--August 29, 2008, Newsmax


On energy:

"I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that."

--June 8, 2008, Wasilla Assembly of God Church


On receiving $1.8 million in federal earmarks for the city of Wasilla:

"FYI This does not include our nearly one million Dollars from the Feds for our Airport Paving Project. We did well!!!"

--June 14, 1999, Wasilla City Council Informational Memorandum 99-62


On that "Bridge to Nowhere":

Question: "Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?"

Palin: "Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now--while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."

--October 22, 2006, Anchorage Daily News


On library books she doesn't like:

"What would your response be if I asked you to remove some books from the collection?"

--October 1996 conversation with librarian Mary Ellen Emmons, Anchorage Daily News

On the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party:

"Your party plays an important role in our state's politics ... keep up the good work, and God bless you."

--2008* video address to Independence Party's convention


On Ivana Trump:

"We want to see Ivana because we are so desperate in Alaska for any semblance of glamour and culture."

--April 3, 1996, Anchorage Daily News


On running Wasilla:

"It's not rocket science. It's six million dollars and fifty-three employees. "

--October 1996, Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman


On being governor:

"I will unambiguously, steadfastly, and doggedly guard the interests of this great state, as a mother naturally guards her own. Like a Southeast Eagle and her eaglets, or, more appropriately here in the Carlson, like a Nanook defending her cub."

--December 4, 2006, inaugural address

On the prospect of becoming a candidate for vice president:

"It kind of cracks me up. It is so far out of the realm of possibility and reality."

--August 14, 2008, Financial Post



*In the magazine, the year of the address is listed as 2006. It is 2008.

It's not clear or transparent, is this a Constitutional showdown?

Posted by Wesley Loy

Posted: September 11, 2008 - 11:55 am

From Wesley Loy in Anchorage –

Tomorrow morning we’ll see a big event in the ongoing Troopergate investigation and the growing clash between the governor’s office and the Legislature.

The House and Senate judiciary committees are meeting in Anchorage, and members might vote to issue subpoenas to compel members of Gov. Sarah Palin’s administration – but not the governor herself – to go for interviews with the Legislature’s investigator, Steve Branchflower.

But this week, the state Department of Law – representing Department of Administration employees – threatens in this seven-page letter to go to court to block the subpoenas, thus widening the conflict to all three branches of government.

The letter is signed by Michael Barnhill, senior assistant to Attorney General Talis Colberg, and is addressed to state Sen. Kim Elton, the Juneau Democrat who heads the legislative panel that initiated the Troopergate investigation.

Among its points:

• The governor is basically the boss over all executive branch employees, and she and her staff can legally look at confidential employee personnel files “in the course and scope of their official duties.”

A central question in the Troopergate case, of course, is whether the governor or her staff improperly perused personnel and other files of state Trooper Mike Wooten, who was involved in a rough divorce from Palin’s sister.

“At this point, the Department of Law knows of no evidence that suggests that any Department of Administration employees violated the State Personnel Act in handling Trooper Wooten’s personnel file,” the letter says.

• The letter accuses Anchorage Democratic Sen. Hollis French, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and “project director” for the Legislature’s Troopergate investigation, of making biased media remarks and suggesting state employees might even face criminal prosecution.

• The letter says that, even though legislators have said Branchflower’s investigation will wrap up by Oct. 10 rather than the end of October as originally planned, that’s still suspiciously close to the Nov. 4 election, in which Palin is standing for vice president.

The letter, which drops references to McCarthyism, “secret depositions” and “unchecked investigative enthusiasm,” ends on a note of questioning the legitimacy of the Legislature’s investigation.

“Bluntly and to the point, we think there is a legitimate concern that this investigation is no longer being conducted in a fair manner – and therefore is potentially violative of Alaska’s constitutional due process safeguards,” Barnhill’s letter says, adding:

“The eyes of the nation have now turned upon us.”

the real Constitutional issue

is whether voters in the United States have the right to be informed of a VP candidate's illegal activities and unethical actions -before they vote in November.

That's what this is all about -preventing the nation from seeing the real dirt on Palin and her two-bit staff conducted themselves on the Wooten affair.

I think it at the very least violates the spirit of the Right to Vote -when you use the court system to prevent full disclosure to the voting public.